Rockford schools spend $32 million on construction

ROCKFORD - Rockford School District had no problem allocating $32 million in construction contracts this year, the first steps in an ambitious 10-year plan to upgrade school buildings.

INSIDE: We break down finished projects, upcoming projects, companies that won bids and more.

By Corina CurryRockford Register Star

BELOW: We broke down finished projects, upcoming projects, companies that won bids and more.

ROCKFORD - Rockford School District had no problem allocating $32 million in construction contracts this year, the first steps in an ambitious 10-year plan to upgrade school buildings.

From May 14 to Sept. 24, district leaders nearly unanimously approved 12 projects, awarding the work to nine contractors, eight of which are local firms, all lowest bidders.

Of the 12 projects, the books are closed on two - new flooring at Jefferson High School, which was completed as part of this summer's Sharefest project, and paving improvements at eight schools.

While last summer's paving projects weren't as eye-catching or exciting as the new building additions, the work was vital, said Chief Operations Officer Todd Schmidt.

"It may not be glamorous work, but it was absolutely necessary work," Schmidt said. "Some of these parking lots were pothole galore. There were drainage issues. ... We put in some new parking lots and designated bus lanes. That's creating safer passage for our students."

District leaders plan to spend $311 million in all, pledging last year to perform some work at each of the district's 46 school buildings through 2023.

They need to spend at least $85 million by 2016 under the financing rules of the district's $100 million bond sale earlier this year. Two more years of spending similar to 2013 will more than surpass that goal.

When schools reopen Jan. 6, students and teachers at Conklin, Johnson and Lathrop elementary schools will celebrate the official completions of their new building additions, which include cafeterias, kitchens and resource rooms.

A few weeks later, they'll do the same at Froberg, McIntosh and Spring Creek schools.

The expansion couldn't be coming at a better time at Froberg.

Principal Christina Ulferts has big plans for the extra room. They include art, music and physical education, tutoring, kindergarten programming and extracurricular activities, many of which have been offered in overcrowded spaces or hallways until now.

"It's always been important to the staff at Froberg that space not limit what we offer to our students," Ulferts said. "Just imagine what we will do with more space."

The school plans to start work on a library and computer lab redesign this spring and hopes to open a science lab where students can do hands-on lessons.

Facilities plan: Year in reviewThe Rockford School Board kicked off its $311 million, 10-year facilities-improvement plan this year by awarding 12 contracts worth a little more than $32 million.

May 14East High School windows: Purchase and installation of new energy efficient windows.Six bids ranging from $1,655,560 to $2,170,504Low bid: Cardinal Glass Company

July 9Auburn High School field house: 100,000-square-foot field house addition including eight new classrooms, 200-meter track, basketball and volleyball courts, cafeteria expansion, storage and multi-purpose space.Six bids ranging from $13,089,000 to $14,155,468Low bid: Stenstrom

Sept. 24Guilford High School field house prep: Relocation of water, storm sewer and sanitary sewer lines, site prep and building sub grade installation.Three bids ranging from $475,000 to $639,000Low bid: N-Trak Group

Corina Curry: 815-987-1371; ccurry@rrstar.com; @corinacurry

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Jackson questioned Stenstrom awardThe Rockford School Board cast six nearly unanimous votes between May and September for the new facilities plan.

Only one dissenting vote — Lisa Jackson's against the Auburn High School project — was recorded. Jackson, the board's secretary, refused to elaborate on her vote after the meeting, but before she cast it, she asked several questions about the bid process and fairness.

The motion on the floor was to award $13 million in construction work to Stenstrom, a company founded by the family of Rockford School Superintendent Ehren Jarrett's wife.General Counsel Lori Hoadley addressed Jackson's concerns saying there's no conflict of interest because Jarrett does not have a financial interest or hold office in Stenstrom's organization.

It was the third contract awarded to Stenstrom last year, the most awarded to any single contractor. The company was the lowest bidder on all three occasions.Illinois law dictates that work awarded through a competitive bid process go to the lowest responsible bidder.

Closing the booksThe Rockford School District launched seven construction projects this year and closed the books on two.

Other projects will wrap up in January or February, and some won't end until fall.By that time, a whole new crop of building improvements will be underway.Here are the bid amounts and actual dollars spent for the two completed projects.

Northern Illinois Services Co. was paid $19,548 more than the original bid amount. Fischer received $27,279.65 above bid and Stenstrom got $4,848.20 more than what was bid.

Schmidt attributed the additional costs to unsuitable underground soil conditions."You don't know what's underground," Schmidt said. "You get abandoned pipes. You get soft spots that you have to dig out and refill. ... We do soil tests before to try to determine whether that needs to be done but you're just doing borings in certain places.

"You just don't know until you start digging."

Source: Rockford School District

Who got whatHere is a list of the nine companies that won bids for the Rockford School District facilities plan this year and the total bid amounts awarded this year.

NameAmountBids wonStenstrom$16,755,9403Cord Construction Co.$4,010,2431Rockford Structures Construction Company$2,742,4601Fischer Excavating Inc.$2,615,998.551Fridh Construction Services$1,923,5002Cardinal Glass Company$1,655,5601Northern Illinois Services Co.$1,650,218.951N-Trak Group$475,0001Colfax Corporation$391,6381What's nextProjects on deck for 2014 and beyond include: a Guilford High School field house addition, mechanical upgrades at Auburn, Guilford and East high schools, window replacement at Lincoln, Flinn and Kennedy middle schools, auditorium upgrades at Auburn, East and Guilford and a new field house at East.